Blind Royal Oak boy inspires $165,000 in donations

A small Royal Oak boy, born without eyes and suffering other disabilities, is inspiring people from around the world.

Online donors from Canada to Japan, Europe and Afghanistan have come to the rescue of Griffin Stein, 4, as his parents, Heston and Krissy, struggle to care for him while raising Griffin’s two triplet siblings, Logan and Kaylee.

In the past week donors have raised more than $165,000 for the family.

Heston Stein works full time as an environmental site consultant for a real estate company and his wife works part-time in addition to caring for their triplets. But their home mortgage was underwater when their three children were born and they couldn’t move. The cost and time it takes to care for Griffin’s special needs was also swamping the family financially.

That changed as the online campaign for Griffin took off.

“For the first time in a long time we have options — and peace of mind,” said Heston Stein, 41. “For the first 24 hours we were awestruck. The next day there were a lot of tears. People left comments on how Griffin’s story had restored their faith in humanity and we felt that also. It was a real lesson in humility.”

Stein originally set out only to get a minivan that could accommodate Griffin’s wheelchair. He made a grant request to an online group called Chive Charities.

The group is an offshoot of the photographic entertainment website The Chive, founded by brothers John and Leo Resig in California. John Resig visited the Steins, saw their small house with the triplets sharing only one room, and decided to help them raise money to build a $30,000 addition.

Followers of the Chive, who call themselves Chivers, responded overwhelmingly after the charity helped Heston Stein set up a crowd funding request — House Expansion for Griffin — on www.GoFundMe.com.

More than 5,600 people commented on the website and made donations, most of them averaging about $30.

“It was unbelievable,” said Krissy Stein, 35. “The Chive community has really rallied to Griffin’s cause and given us opportunities to care for him that we didn’t have before.”

Brian Mercedes, executive director of Chive Charities headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., said the charity decided to help the Steins further after visiting the family.

“We found out how, financially, they are in dire straits and really needed some home renovations,” Mercedes said. “They are humble people and didn’t come out and tell us about it at first. So we asked Heston to open a crowd funding site and let the Chivers go wild.”

Griffin was born with a rare genetic disorder called SOX2 Amophthalmia Syndrome that strikes about 1 in 250,000 people. He has very limited speaking abilities, impaired hearing and shows emotion chiefly with cries, screams or giggles.

He has to be fed through a tube in his stomach and attends a school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Oakland County.

“We call him Griffer,” Heston Stein said, adding that his young son likes to smile and routinely has fits of laughing. “His brother and sister talk to him and bring him toys. They just accept that Griffin is how he is.”

Stein’s daughter, Kalyee ,recently told him she has a special birthday wish for Griffin.

“She said she hoped Griffin could get eyes for his next birthday so he could see a rainbow,” Stein said. “Stuff like that just melts your heart.”